Relationship dossier
Vatican City
Benin
Relationship assessment
High-level diplomacy and a formal agreement on the Catholic Church’s legal status underpin cooperation between the Holy See and Benin.
Vatican City toward Benin
+35Pope Benedict XVI visited Benin in November 2011, engaging with the country’s leadership and Catholic community. The Holy See also signed a 2016 agreement concerning the Catholic Church’s legal status in Benin.
Benin toward Vatican City
+35Benin hosted Pope Benedict XVI’s visit in November 2011. In 2016, the Beninese government signed an agreement with the Holy See concerning the Catholic Church’s legal status in Benin.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship includes high-level engagement and a formal agreement addressing the Catholic Church’s legal status in Benin. These features support a cooperative bilateral structure, although the agreement’s practical scope and subsequent implementation are unclear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The Holy See and Benin have engaged through high-level diplomacy and a formal agreement concerning the Catholic Church’s legal status in Benin. Pope Benedict XVI visited Benin in 2011, and the parties signed an agreement in 2016. These actions indicate substantive cooperation, though the scope and implementation of the agreement are unclear.
Key developments
Pope Benedict XVI visited Benin and met with national leaders.
The Holy See and Benin signed an agreement concerning the Catholic Church’s legal status in Benin.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of the 2016 agreement on the Catholic Church’s legal status are unclear.
- The extent of ongoing government cooperation beyond high-level visits and the agreement is uncertain.